10 Ways to Practice Being an Animal
Just for today
A short list of strategies for how animals survive. Most of them begin with noticing. Few begin with thinking.
Notice thirst. Drink until it’s gone. Notice hunger. Eat until it’s gone.
Notice fatigue. Even when you’re in the middle of something. Rest. Even when you’re in the middle of something.
Notice when you don’t want to do something that you are otherwise encouraged to do. Say “I don’t want to.” And then don’t do it.
When your boundaries have been crossed, allow anger to mark it: let it exist, flare, and burn itself off.
Rest, lounge, and be unproductive for as long as necessary. Until you’re hungry or thirsty or need to move.
Change your mind or your direction when new information presents itself. This can be data. It can also be sensations, weather, gut feelings, boredom, energy, curiosity.
Move your body in a way that feels good.
Forget the word should. Remember most rules are bullshit and at the very least, negotiable.
Resist words. Quiet the urge to paint descriptions onto experiences; logic onto feelings; story onto the present moment.
Find the part of your sternum where intuition, but not fear, blossoms. Breathe into it. Breathe out of it. Let it be quiet until it is not.